ABORIGINAL AMERICAN BASKETRY. 



409 



economy, in doubliiiy' tli(> Avurp splints, to use strips from the outside 

 of the vooi and to luy tlic wrong- sides toi^vtiuT sous to li;ive botii siii-- 

 t'iUM^s smooth. This is sliown in the mixed twine ;iiid ched-cer work 

 on the bottoms of baskets. 



Plate 140 is a collection of Tlinkit twined buslcetry made from the 

 I'oots of the spruce and d(>corated in false emiiroidery with wild rye or 

 hair o-rass, either in the natural color or dyed. It will he ol)served that 

 th(^ tigures do not appear on the inside of the walh't. Attention is also 

 calhxl to the very fine workm-anship on these old specimens, especially 

 upon the large one in the middle. The ornamentation, in its symbolism, 



Fig. 137. 

 twined hasket wallet. 

 Tlinkit Indians, Alaska. 



Collected by .T. B. White. 



has reference to natural features and waterways. The composition of 

 the oruament is in triangles and parallelograms. 



Fig. 137, Catalogue No. i>15C() U. S. National Museum, is a twined 

 basket wallet of the Tlinkit Indians. It is of lumd-box shape when 

 spread out, but here shown as folded for transportation. The bottom, 

 warp, and twine is v«n-y roughly made of spruce root splints, the 

 former radiating- from the c(Miter. The l)oundary of the ))ottom is a 

 single row of three-strand twine. This method of ornamenting- and 

 strengthening- their work Avas used ])y the Tlinkits, not only at the 

 bottom, 1)ut along- the sides and near the top. The rest of the body is 

 in strip(\s of natural spruce root color, in l)lack and Indian red, done 

 in false embroidery. 



